This was a 4-month long study that compared recommendations to eat or skip breakfast in 309 overweight/obese men and women (12).

After 4 months, there was no difference in weight between groups. It simply didn't matter whether people ate or skipped breakfast.

These results are supported by other studies on the effects of breakfast habits on weight loss. Skipping breakfast had no visible effects (5, 12, 13).

Bottom Line: Higher-quality studies show that it makes no difference whether people eat or skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast makes you eat more at lunch, but not enough to compensate for the breakfast you skipped.